Comparison

Terraforming Mars vs Lanternfall

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Terraforming Mars

Lead a corporation to terraform Mars by building cities, forests, and oceans. Manage resources, complete objectives, and increase your Terraform Rating to make the planet habitable. Compete against rivals and lead humanity into a new era.

Highlights
  • Official board game adaptation
  • Play against AI or up to 5 players
  • Online and offline multiplayer
  • Corporate Era variant
  • Solo challenge mode
  • Expansions available for new content
Features
Read full description

CREATE LIFE ON MARS Lead a corporation and launch ambitious Mars terraforming projects. Direct massive construction works, manage and use your resources, create cities, forests and oceans, and set rewards and objectives to win the game! In Terraforming Mars, place your cards on the board and use them wisely: - Achieve a high Terraform Rating, by increasing the temperature and oxygen level or creating oceans... Make the planet habitable for future generations! - Get Victory Points by building cities, infrastructure and other ambitious projects. - But watch out! Rival corporations will try to slow you down... That's a nice forest you planted there... It'd be a shame if an asteroid crashed right on it. Will you be able to lead humanity into a new era? The terraforming race begins now! Features: • The official adaptation of Jacob Fryxelius' famous board game. • Mars for all: Play against the computer or challenge up to 5 players in multiplayer mode, online or offline. • Game variant: Try the rules of the Corporate Era for a more complex game. With the addition of new cards, including 2 new corporations, focused on economy and technology, you will discover one of the most strategic variants of the game! • Solo Challenge: Finish terraforming Mars before the end of generation 14. Try new rules and features in the most challenging Solo mode on the (red) planet. DLCs: • Speed up your game with the Prelude expansion, adding a new phase at the start of the game to specialize your corporation and boost your early game. It also introduces new cards, corporations and a new solo challenge. • Explore a new side of Mars with the Hellas & Elysium maps, each bringing a new set of twists, awards and milestones. From the Southern Wilds to the Other Face of Mars, the taming of the Red Planet continues. • Add the Venus board to your game, with a new Solar phase to hasten your games. Shake up Terraforming Mars with the Morning Star expansion, featuring new cards, corporations, and resources! • Spice up the game with 7 new cards from the Original Promo Pack: Includes everything from the microbe-oriented corporation Splice to the game-changing Self-Replication Robot project. * Try the Big Box Promo Pack and its 23 cards to raise the level even higher. Play as the expert-only Pharmacy Union or enjoy the more relaxed Astrodrill corporation with this DLC! * Establish outposts and trade with them in Colonies! Featuring 49 project cards, 5 corporations, and a whole new game system, Colonies is the most content-packed DLC to date! Languages available: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish Having an issue? Looking for support? Please contact us: https://asmodee.helpshift.com/ Find all the latest news for Terraforming Mars on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwinSailsInt Twitter: https://twitter.com/TwinSailsInt YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/twinsailsinteractive © Twin Sails Interactive 2019. © FryxGames 2016. Terraforming Mars™ is a trademark of FryxGames. Developed by Artefact Studio.

About

Lanternfall

Engage in a turn-based tactical combat game where your lantern is your primary weapon. Navigate eight floors of a dark forest, outsmarting enemies with perfect information and strategic use of four core actions. Unlock new abilities and customize your lantern to overcome increasingly challenging foes.

Highlights
  • Turn-based tactical combat
  • Perfect information gameplay
  • Four core actions: step, strike, shove, flare
  • Dynamic forest environments
  • Unlockable boons and lantern types
  • Daily challenges and leaderboards
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

Your lantern is the weapon. Raise it and everything beside you backs off a hex. Whatever has nowhere to go, against a tree, the forest's edge or another creature, is cornered: it burns, and it staggers. Lanternfall is a turn-based tactics game for one thumb. Eight floors of dark forest, one action a turn, and every enemy announces exactly what it will do next. Wolves show the claw. Archers draw the line. Boars show the charge. If you get hit, it is because you ended your turn somewhere you shouldn't have. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT • Perfect information. No hidden dice, no surprise damage. Every loss is readable. • Four verbs: step, strike, shove, flare. The shove moves the board; the flare stuns everything within two hexes. • A forest that changes shape. Wolves hunt in packs. Archers back away when touched. Boars charge down lines and throw you. Weavers web the way to the gate. Crows drive the pack. Stumps wake under your feet. From floor 3 an old one walks every floor. • Two named encounters. Floor 4 is barred until the Old Bear falls. Floor 8 is the den: when the Den Mother falls, you have walked out. TWENTY-ONE BOONS, LEARNED ONE WALK AT A TIME Four families: Flame, Blade, Cloak and Light. Keystones change what a verb does. Pairs appear only when you hold both halves. Every walk that ends, win or lose, teaches the next boon, so there is always something new in the forest. THE CAMP Embers come back from every walk. Spend them on five ways to carry the lantern: the Wanderer, the Lamplighter, the Duelist, the Warden, the Torchbearer. Each starts something in hand, costs you something, and tilts the gates toward its family. THE DAILY One shared forest a night, the same for everyone, with a nightly board and a weekly ladder. One missed night a week is forgiven. DEEPER NIGHTS Walk out of a depth and its nights open: no keepsake, two hearts, a bold pack, no second chances, each for more embers. MADE THE HONEST WAY Depths 1 and 2, the Camp, the kits, every boon and the daily are free. One optional purchase, Lanternfall Deep, opens depth 3 and everything below it. A small Supporter Pack adds lantern colors and your name in the credits. No subscriptions, no ads, no consumables, no energy timers. Nothing is collected about you. Works offline. Sound follows your silent switch. Every walk is written down in the Chronicle, and any page can be shared.

Screenshots

Terraforming Mars4 screens
Lanternfall4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Lanternfall at Free against Terraforming Mars's $8.99. Lanternfall also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Terraforming Mars's advantage is ratings volume (7.6K vs 1) and chart position (#35 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Lanternfall is free to download; Terraforming Mars costs $8.99 up front. Terraforming Mars sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Lanternfall sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lanternfall holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Terraforming Mars has 7.6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Terraforming Mars ships an update every 3 weeks, Lanternfall weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Terraforming Mars versus Lanternfall: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTerraforming MarsLanternfall
Price$8.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (7.6K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings7.6K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#35 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size353 MB7 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperTwin Sails InteractiveNICHOLAS DANIEL MINIERI

Customer experience

Terraforming Mars

All ratings7,460 ratings
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.9%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews907 reviews
Positive45.1%
Neutral15.9%
Negative39.0%

Lanternfall

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Terraforming Mars

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Science tags not counted properly
  • Power infrastructure card not functioning
  • Inability to place tiles in some cases
  • Saved games not loading properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Undo button for actions
  • Ability to see final game metrics
  • Notifications for turn updates
  • Ability to track win/loss records
  • More expansion content

Lanternfall

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Terraforming Mars

One-time6
  • Original Promo Pack$2.99
  • Terraforming Mars - Prelude$3.99
  • Hellas & Elysium$3.99
Show 3 more
  • Venus Next$3.99
  • Colonies$3.99
  • Big Box Promo Pack$4.99
2 purchases

Lanternfall

One-time2
  • Supporter Pack$2.99
  • Lanternfall Deep$4.99

Questions

Is Terraforming Mars free?
Terraforming Mars costs $8.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Lanternfall free?
Lanternfall is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Terraforming Mars or Lanternfall?
Lanternfall is rated higher. Terraforming Mars averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.6K ratings, while Lanternfall averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Terraforming Mars or Lanternfall have ads?
Neither Terraforming Mars nor Lanternfall shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Terraforming Mars or Lanternfall?
Terraforming Mars ships an update every 3 weeks, and Lanternfall weekly. Most recently, Terraforming Mars was updated on November 9, 2026 and Lanternfall on October 31, 2026.

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